State Tackles Childrens' Mental Health Issues

JOSH KOVNER, jkovner@courant.com

Parents struggling to find adequate mental-health treatment for their children in Connecticut now know they are not alone.

At public forums since March, 1,000 parents have shared personal experiences with a system that is largely overwhelmed, lacks adequate mental-health screening for children, and is stacked against middle-class families with commercial insurance. And each of those parents spoke for many others.

Wednesday, the Department of Children and Families and the half-dozen other sponsors of those forums – charged by the legislature with reforming the childrens' mental-health system – updated lawmakers on a plan due out in October.

The parents identified several categories of problems, said Yale University's Michael Hoge, clinical professor of psychology and a consultant with the project.

Early prevention: Children are routinely screened for medical problems, but not mental health. Fewer than four out of 10 children are screened for autism, yet the number of children diagnosed with the condition is increasing rapidly.

Consistency: some towns have plentiful, high-quality mental-health programs in the community and in the schools; other towns have next to nothing, particularly in the northeast, northwest, and southwest areas of the state. Some parents have moved just so their children can have a better shot at treatment. Some local police departments work very well with mental-health professionals in town; others hardly collaborate at all.

Access: Hospital emergency departments are overwhelmed with children needing immediate mental-health treatment and many community programs have long waiting lists. Children served by the Department of Children and Families or in the juvenile-justice system have better access to treatment then children who aren't involved with the system. One parent was told by an agency: "You're holding it together for now; come back when things fall apart." Another parent described purposely letting her child's condition deteriorate so the family couldn't be denied services.

Insurance: Those with commercial insurance reported far less access to treatment services than those on the HUSKY plan, or those who could afford to pay out of their pockets. And too few doctors accept Medicaid.

Autism: There is a severe lack of services for 18-year-olds who are trying to make the transition to adulthood. They need more job opportunities, housing, training in life-skills; even learning to drive is a major problem.

Jeff Vanderploeg of the Child Health and Development Institute, which is preparing the plan for DCF, said a 36-member panel of clinical experts and parents will review a draft of the plan. Members of the legislature's Appropriations Committee and the Select Committee on Children heard Wednesday's update.